Fathom's bidirectional AC power can power your home (V2H)

[Snakebitten]

I'm not one to freak out about subscriptions. They just have to pass the sniff test for my personal value-equation. Afterall, I have all kinds of subscriptions in modern life. Subscriptions are consumption and convenience costs.

Having said that, I will be very disappointed if there's a 240v inverter onboard, but I can't access it's output anytime anywhere via a distribution panel/outlet in the truck. I'm an avid user of both Ford's 7.2KW ProPower in my Powerboost, as well as GMC 7.2KW "Energy sharing" in my Denali EV truck.

Yeah, I have both. I'm an hopeless addict for electrification trucks. I love driving rolling powergrids.

Hopefully Ford doesn't lock that inverter behind the V2H feature exclusively. That wouldn't make sense after the Lightning and Powerboost. They've set precedent for things like this

 

[msieczkowski]

This

 

[msieczkowski]

A subscription makes sense for the "allow your battery to be used by the grid" piece. Ford will have to maintain infrastructure to communicate with all the utilities that participate. That isn't free and if you included the lifetime cost of maintaining that to the vehicle cost people would complain the Fathom costs too much and it would also be unfair to the people who never use it. The home backup piece is too vague at this point to judge.

 

[chl]

The Lightning owners on here are all too familiar with Ford's first attempt at this. The Ford Charge Station Pro was paired with the Sunrun Home Integration System (link) Cost a lot of money, had many software issues, lots of finger pointing, etc. Sounds like all they did here was to now use the truck inverter but kept a lot of the expensive hardware. Oh, and added a new monthly subscription.

Hooking a Lightning or EcoBoost's bed outlet to a generator inlet on your electrical panel is the way to go if all you need is occasional emergency power. So much so that Ford is now promoting it's own generator cable/adapter that attaches from the bed outlet to a Generlink meter base (link). Total cost under $2.5K including installation.

Can't see any Lightning owner trusting this new Fathom system.

Yes.
Only took them 3 years to fix the HIS/FCSP bugs (if they're finally fixed now?).

The HIS could integrate with a solar install which is probably why some people bought it.
No mention of that with this new system that I saw.

If all they did was repackage the HIS and reduce it to 2 boxes instead of the way the HIS was configured...

Call me skeptical...

I like the alleged programmability of the Fathom system to off-set peak utility rates, etc., but we Lightning owners all know how much trouble Ford has had in the past getting software 'right' and fixing it when it needs it, something as simple as setting charge current, or time of day to charge, got fouled up by over the air updates now and then.

I hope the Fathom has the PPOB 240v/30a in the bed - I could be happy with a smaller more efficient PU truck like the Fathom - but I'd want to keep my $400 transfer switch emergency home backup system for the rare outage occurrence rather than sink $2500+ installation and subscription fee at this point anyway.

If utility peak rates were to spike it might be a different story.

 

[commadorebob]

I personally would rather they just charge more up front than subscribe us to death.

 

[mark]

Agree. Updates included OTA no charge. it is not clear if that subscription was just for the off peak system as well as the powering for lost of service during an event. I can not use the off peak service and the occasional power loss could not justify a monthly fee. My principal reason for this over the hybrid is this benefit. Maverick is now a mature product, making it a less troublesome purchase, especially with the current drop in 2027 prices on higher trims. I look forward to clarification from Riley.

 

[rtf150]

But….Could one daisy chain Ford priducts such as the Powerboost and the Fathom to power ANY home if one wanted??? . I believe that someone will find a way to provide power to a home with a Fathom and without Ford’s subscription or their fancy light switch. Enjoying reading everyone’s thoughts. Appreciate you all!

 

[Snakebitten]

I'm 99.99% convinced that Ford will equip the truck with all the features of its well established (and received) ProPower Onboard, regardless of whether they rebrand it as something else. Otherwise the Fathom's E-box inverter would only have value at home in your garage.

Ford can't be that oblivious to the gnashing of teeth that would draw.

I think Ford is swinging for the fences on this thing. And they should be. They desperately need to meet and exceed expectations.

 

[onuiebvbevnulib]

To the best of my knowledge, there are no low cost evening rates(off peak) in my region.

I just checked in the DFW area (https://www.powertochoose.org) and there is only two that do.
TXU has an extremely on peak high rate of 18.4 cents per KWH and Chariot Energy has a One Star rating.

So a hard pass on both.

 

[dalola]

I'm 99.99% convinced that Ford will equip the truck with all the features of its well established (and received) ProPower Onboard, regardless of whether they rebrand it as something else. Otherwise the Fathom's E-box inverter would only have value at home in your garage.

Ford can't be that oblivious to the gnashing of teeth that would draw.

I think Ford is swinging for the fences on this thing. And they should be. They desperately need to meet and exceed expectations.

I hope you are right, and I intend to agree with you.... but with Farley at the helm, I still feel like they could totally blow this....

 

[graycorgi]

outage plan

That's exactly what it would be for me. We don't have TOU rates here, but it would be nice to be able to power my home in an emergency. Though 10kW won't run my heat pump resistive heating elements, even just being able to run the heat pump itself plus a couple space heaters would make a HUGE difference if we experience an extended outage in sub-freezing winter temps.

That said, I would NOT want to allow my local utility access or control to it in any way shape or form. For me, it must remain independent. That also means I'd need to be able to buy it outright - no subscription fees for basic functionality of outage fail-over.

 

[Snakebitten]

I think even Farley knows to let this "skunkworks team" succeed with their non-legacy approach?

I only hope the "team" has knowledge of the best attributes of the Legacy products Ford built before/without them.

The Lightning, Powerboost, and Mach-E all have some genuinely world-class attributes. Ford's 7.2KW ProPower is an example. I personally think they ARE well versed in ProPower because they are literally equipping the Fathom with very similar concept, except doing it UEV style, which is fresher.

 

[dalola]

I think even Farley knows to let this "skunkworks team" succeed with their non-legacy approach?

I only hope the "team" has knowledge of the best attributes of the Legacy products Ford built before/without them.

The Lightning, Powerboost, and Mach-E all have some genuinely world-class attributes. Ford's 7.2KW ProPower is an example. I personally think they ARE well versed in ProPower because they are literally equipping the Fathom with very similar concept, except doing it UEV style, which is fresher.

I spent 25 years in OEM product development (not Ford), most of the time, the D teams get it right, and the cuts/compromises/stupidity come from the exec's & accountants. I remain optimistic, but cautious, for the Fathom.

 

[mark]

https://view.msg.ford.com/?qs=ACN7I...eCG3snxz21FOUFU7IHNnatPyXxqI3ndWalbeQGfdKz0If

Two Ways Fathom Can Power Your Home

For Fathom customers, that two-way flow of electricity can work in two ways:

• “Saving Money on Home Electricity Bills: Home Power Management lets Fathom customers charge the vehicle's battery when electricity is less expensive and use it to power their home when electricity is more expensive, which may help lower customers' monthly electricity bills. The only hardware required is Ford's Home Power Station, which is expected to cost about half as much as our first-generation bidirectional charger, along with an active plan or trial.1
• Keeping the Lights On: Home Backup Power lets Fathom send power to a customer's home when the power goes out. It's a clean, quiet alternative to traditional backup generators that run on natural gas or diesel. Customers will need the Ford Home Power Station and Ford Home Backup Power Panel, which is expected to cost at least 60% less than our first-generation home backup hardware.2“

This new email from Ford appears to seperate the Home Backup Power as a purchase and the Power Management Program as a subscription. Below are the footnotes for the bullet points.

1. Home Power Management requires available Ford Home Power Station, utility approval and an active Ford trial or plan.


2. Home Backup Power requires available Ford Home Power Station and Home Backup Power Panel, and may require utility notice or approval.

 

[commadorebob]

https://view.msg.ford.com/?qs=ACN7I...eCG3snxz21FOUFU7IHNnatPyXxqI3ndWalbeQGfdKz0If

Two Ways Fathom Can Power Your Home

For Fathom customers, that two-way flow of electricity can work in two ways:

• “Saving Money on Home Electricity Bills: Home Power Management lets Fathom customers charge the vehicle's battery when electricity is less expensive and use it to power their home when electricity is more expensive, which may help lower customers' monthly electricity bills. The only hardware required is Ford's Home Power Station, which is expected to cost about half as much as our first-generation bidirectional charger, along with an active plan or trial.1
• Keeping the Lights On: Home Backup Power lets Fathom send power to a customer's home when the power goes out. It's a clean, quiet alternative to traditional backup generators that run on natural gas or diesel. Customers will need the Ford Home Power Station and Ford Home Backup Power Panel, which is expected to cost at least 60% less than our first-generation home backup hardware.2“

This new email from Ford appears to seperate the Home Backup Power as a purchase and the Power Management Program as a subscription. Below are the footnotes for the bullet points.

1. Home Power Management requires available Ford Home Power Station, utility approval and an active Ford trial or plan.


2. Home Backup Power requires available Ford Home Power Station and Home Backup Power Panel, and may require utility notice or approval.

That approach makes more sense, since it would require coordination with the utilities. Especially if you plan to charge with cheap power and return it when it is more expensive.

Using the Fathom as a home backup power supply would require nothing more than a utility cutoff.